Experimental Pathology Graduate Program

Director's Welcome

Welcome to the Experimental Pathology Graduate Program (EPGP) website at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston, Texas. The EPGP was formed in 1993 under the visionary leadership of our previous Department of Pathology Chairman, David H. Walker, MD. In July 2014, Michael Laposata, MD, PhD, was selected as the new Chairman. Over the course of its nearly 21 year history, five Directors have been elected by the Program Faculty to oversee the program administration: Dr. Jere W. McBride (2011-present), Dr. Stephen Higgs (2006-2011), Dr. Norbert Herzog (1997-2006), Dr. Alan Barrett (1995-1997), and Dr. Mary Trienen-Moslen (1993-1995). Currently, there are 51 interdepartmental investigators appointed EPGP faculty and 19 graduate students pursuing doctoral degrees in the Program. In the past 10 years, 58 students have received doctoral degrees.

The goal of our Program is to prepare students for a career investigating mechanisms of human disease primarily involving infectious agents or environmental toxins. Students receive training in the pathologic basis of disease including mechanisms of cell injury and death, inflammation, tissue repair, hemodynamic disorders, infectious diseases, immunity and host response, as well as basic biomedical concepts in biochemistry, cell biology, and molecular biology. Faculty research emphasis includes pathology of infectious diseases, specifically molecular and cellular pathobiology and immunobiology of emerging and tropical infectious diseases. Students receive specialized training using multidisciplinary investigative approaches that include the latest molecular biology and sequencing technology, immunology, microscopy, histology, and the use of animal models. Through the available resources and research mentorship with basic and clinical scientists, students are trained in the most cutting edge scientific approaches to study disease mechanisms, leading to the completion of an original research project in a specialized area of experimental pathology.